>> What a wonderful world that would be.
I'm not all about everyone carrying guns into movie theaters.
But the mere knowledge that a crazed gunman may be shot dead before he makes headlines is enough to have some of them re-think the game plan. More importantly, the knowledge that any given potential crime victim may be in a position to defend him/herself will reduce crime.
Let me tell you about something that happened in Arkansas a few decades ago. The Pulaski county sheriff, Tommy Robinson (later, a corrupt congressman from the district), in an effort to control convenience store robberies in Little Rock, stationed a couple of shotgun-armed deputies hidden in the back of convenience stores. Any store participating, whether or not there was an armed guard, displayed a huge poster that said, essentially:
"WARNING: Armed deputy may be on site. If you attempt to rob this store you will be shot without further warning."
The tactic later became known as "Robinson Roulette". The effect was dramatic, and the county quickly saw a huge drop in robberies. (In no way intended to discount the man's subsequent failures, after the Peter Principle allowed him to rise above his competence and integrity levels). But as soon as his successor ended the program robberies shot back up.
The point here is that simply increasing the risk that someone will be shooting back will have an effect -- perhaps not on some crazies, but on some of the neighborhood violence, robbery, rape, and other violent crime.
It is just a fact of life -- criminals are less apt to take on a victim who they think may be armed. |
